Everything is now moving forward according to plan.  The infiltration system is almost completely filled with pipe.  Next week they should begin the process of connecting pipes to the system.     

The Electricians moved on site today to begin taking down the power poles that you see to your left when you come in.  All those poles will be removed and the power will go underground so we won’t have poles and lines running over the top of our new parking lot.  Power will also be installed for lighting in the new parking lot.  The goal is to have the front parking lot ready to use within a month.   Here are the Electricians at work:   

The underground infiltration system is still being put in.  It is massive.  I don’t know if the pictures even do it justice.  There ended up being around 450 dump truck loads full of gravel that went into the trench.  There are thousands of feet of pipe.

They are also working diligently to get us some parking up in the front area as you come in the driveway.  The goal is to have that ready to use within a month.

Also, we are getting to the point in the project that we have to deal with people stealing materials and tearing up the site.  Last night someone came in with a pick-up truck and went down in the trench to do donuts and play.  Their playing cost us around $ 3000 - $ 4000 because of all the stuff they tore up.   We are working so hard to pay for this project that the last thing we need is for things like this to happen.  So, pray that the thieves and the destroyers stay away or at least that we can catch them.

Praise the Lord!  We are back at work!

The new piping that was ordered for the City Water issue has now been installed and that issue has been solved.

The new infiltration system is now being installed as well.  I’ve attached some pictures so you can see how massive this trench is.  They are currently bringing in around 150 - 200 dump truck loads full of gravel as the base of this system.  It is amazing to see.

Just to be honest it is alittle frustrating to move forward and then have the project come to a halt.  The last few weeks have been hard to take.  However, the infiltration savings came in at around $ 120,000 opposed to the $ 60,000 savings I mentioned in my last update.  So, that makes the halt on the project alittle easier to swallow.

The news is good and things will begin to move forward again.  The City of Ormond Beach has now approved our new infiltration system.

The City water pipe issue has also been resolved and the City has issued stamped and approved final plans for the project.  Praise the Lord!

The plan is for the Underground company to remobilized their equipment back on site this week and for actual work to begin the first of next week. 

You should really see things move forward fast from this point because now everything is approved and all the subcontractors are ready to kick it into high gear.

If you remember from my last entry we were in a holding pattern because of an issue with a City of Ormond water pipe.  We have submitted a change which has been accepted but it takes a couple of weeks for engineering to draw the change and for the City to sign an approval. 

We have also submitted a change to the City for our underground retention.  This change saved us just under $ 60,000 but it will take a couple weeks to go through the City’s approval process.

The good news is that we did receive our actual building permit from the City.

Just to be honest it is alittle frustrating right now because the process isn’t moving forward as fast as we may like.  Everything should be back in full swing in less than two weeks.  I guess that’s not too long in the grand scheme of things.  At least that is what I’m telling myself.

We have also narrowed down the direction we are going with our financing.  Please keep the financing in your prayers because we are doing something out of the box as usual. 

I’ll keep you posted as we progress further along.

Some of you may have noticed that the construction work has slowed down a bit. 

Last week the underground contractor was digging trenches for piping and noticed a pipe that wasn’t in the right place on the plans.  It was in the path of their piping. 

After some investigation we found that it was the City water pipe that goes to the well that the City has on our property.  The surveyor didn’t have the pipe in the correct location.  Everyone had to stop while we got a new survey.

The good news is that we will get our actual building permit tomorrow morning.  Obviously we’ve had a ground clearing permit but the building permit gives us the authority to move forward with all of our plans.   After the building permit is issued tomorrow the engineers will immediately submit the changes in piping that will rectify all the problems. 

Everything should be back on track by the later part of this week.

All of the land has now been cleared.  As you know most of our water retention for our new complex is underground because of the amount of land we have available.

The Underground Company is now on site digging and putting in the pipes for the retention.  They are trying to get all the pipes done in the front area by the road so we can have some gravel parking.  Their plan is to have the front area done within 3-4 weeks.  Pray everything goes smooth.

Here are some pictures of the pipes being installed.

The land is continuing to be cleared. 

This picture   is of the big mulcher in operation.  That thing is amazing.  They put in huge logs and brush and it just eats it all up and shoots out the mulch.

Everything is moving forward as planned.  The playgrounds have been moved and now fencing is being installed around them.   

We are currently moving toward getting some extra parking.  However, the land has to be cleared and underground retention has to be installed.  Of course I’ll keep you up to date on the progress.

 Here are some more pictures of the clearing. 

The turtles have been removed clearing of the land has begun!   You will see tremendous progress on clearing when you come to church tonight and especially on Sunday.

Remember to keep checking in because the updates will now become more frequent since the clearing has now begun.

The turtles are now leaving us.  All of the turtles should be relocated by tomorrow.  There is a possibility that some of the land will be cleared by this Sunday.

The gopher turtles were 12 feet deep in this burrow.